Woven Threads
by Aurore Nouveau
Summary: Tzipporah reflects upon her courtship with Moses.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my second attempt at a fic in a ridiculously long time. I love the _Prince of Egypt_ and I thought it would be interesting to tell the in-between parts of Moses and Tzipporah's budding courtship from the film. Anyway, I hope you like it, and I'll continue to update whenever I have the time. _Most content (c) Dreamworks, SKG._

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><p>I remember, quite vividly, the very first time I saw him. Although it has been many years ago, my memory of him has not faded, and I can still hear the jeering of the crowds as I was led into Pharaoh's court that evening…<p>

There had been a great feast, one to celebrate the promotion of the crown prince to Prince Regent and I was to be presented as an "exotic gift" from the royal priests of the temple of Ra as tribute to the prince's new honor. There were people lined everywhere, dressed in their finest attire. Even though the night was cool, the royal hall was warm from the heat of their bodies, and the fans of the palace servants only made the heat circulate through the room quicker. The blood in my veins pumped through me like the Nile during the rainy season as my heart beat faster and faster...

I had been captured after some Egyptian soldiers had threatened to steal some of my father's flock I was tending with my younger sisters one day. I told them to leave with a matter of force that they mistook for an invitation to water their camels from our well and take our day's supply of bread and milk, and that's when my temper got the best of me. The soldiers claimed that they were Pharaoh's guards and could do as they pleased, and I asked them what they were doing so far from Egypt if they were in Pharaoh's command. One of the men struck me for my insolence and then proceeded to tie me up and take four of my father's sheep along with him as the two left. My sisters immediately fled to fetch our father, but I was long gone by the time they came searching. I found out later that they were slave traders who were looking for some Hebrews that had escaped, but they found me instead and sold me to some priests for a ridiculous price. And that is how I came to find myself in Pharaoh's palace at the banquet for the prince.

My freedom was at stake, as was my dignity and my virtue, and I was not about to let them hand me over to some arrogant, spoiled prince to have his way with me later. Regardless of my attempts to resist my capture, I was thrown on the back of a camel and brought to the center of the alabaster-walled room to be paraded as the evening's main display, although I didn't go quietly. I tried to bite a servant who attempted to tie my hands behind my back, and they tied a cloth about my mouth so tightly that I felt I would choke. But even though they managed to bind me, this wasn't the end of my resistance. I was not an object or some man's piece of property, and I would prove them so. The more I tried, however, the tighter the ropes around my wrists became, wearing my flesh raw until it burned.

They pulled translucent red silk screens up around me as puffs of smoke snaked into the humid air. The camel squirmed in its place, and I nearly fell off its back, but the skinny priest made sure that I maintained my place. He had a stork-like face with a long hooked nose and beady eyes, a willowy frame and spindly legs. He looked at me with contempt, and I was all too happy to look at something else. I could still see blue silk dangling from marble posts carved by the hands of slaves over the rim of the silk screen, and linen draped the high ceilings, drawing the grandeur of the hall to its heart: the Pharaoh's throne. I heard the voice of the fat priest out in the open of the court, and then there were two voices, followed by the dimming of the lights and a series of awed responses from the crowd around them. It was starting...

In the next moment, the clouds of smoke became thicker and the silk screens fell to the floor, causing dust to rise and curl into the air. I felt a sharp tug at my wrists, and I resisted by pulling away. I resisted again and the rope was pulled once more, but harder. I jerked forward in a sudden motion, plummeting clumsily from the camel's back as its annoyed groan was accompanied by my own shriek. A roar of laughter erupted from onlookers as they mocked my moment of gracelessness. I caught my balance and the fat priest began to reel in my rope, pulling me in a game of tug-o-war as I refused to step forward. Another yank of the rope sent me reeling into the open as my feet slid across the cool marble floor and once again there was laughter.

All I could hear was the ringing of my ears and my beating heart as it threatened to burst through my chest. I was being made a spectacle of, degraded and humiliated, and with that realization, my blood began to boil. I looked up in fury at the faces all around me. Their snarls only added fuel to the fire burning in my heart.

And then I saw him.

There on the platform he stood proudly beside Pharaoh and his queen, and with his brother, the Prince. They descended to inspect me. I hesitated. He wore a wig in the common Egyptian style, gold plated jewels with the royal scarab insignia, a white linen wrap about his waist, and golden sandals. His features were regal and charismatic, although my mind was too consumed with hatred to realize how handsome he was. He had strong, broad shoulders and a lean muscular physique, bright eyes that glinted in the torch light, a noble profile, and a smile that would have been beautiful if it had not been marred by the smirk that mocked me with laughter. How I loathed him.

"We present to you a delicate desert flower," the fat priest remarked in his eloquent tone. Beneath it I detected cowardice.

The crowned prince was the first to approach me. His side knot dangled as he strode ever so gracefully towards me for an official inspection. I despised him even more so than his brother; his painted face was haughty and self-righteous, and I hated the way he looked at me.

"Let us inspect this desert flower," he said, taking my chin into his grasp.

Ha! So that's what I was? Some delicate, exotic ornament? I would show him how delicate I was. The gag that had been tied around my mouth was removed, and as the prince pinched my face in to purse my lips, I pulled from his grip and openly bit at his hand. He moved away before I could catch his flesh between my teeth, and I was lucky to not have been struck down for my outright insolence. But I didn't care.

"More like a desert cobra!" The crown prince laughed, nervously wringing the hand that was nearly bitten. The crowd and his brother jeered along with him as my fury and embarrassment steadily rose. Hot flashes coursed through my body as I stared indignantly at them both, summoning what little dignity I had left in me.

"Ha ha! Not much of a snake charmer, are you?" The younger prince said smugly, his arms folded over his chest.

The crown prince merely smirked back, a clever glint in his eye.

"That's why I… give her to you!" He blurted, shoving the younger prince in my direction.

"Ha! No, that's generous, but...," he stammered, struggling against his brother's grip on his shoulders.

He looked like a fool. They both did. And I was tired of the entire charade at my expense.

"I won't be given to anyone," I snapped venomously. I was not about to let them decide my fate. "Especially an arrogant, pampered palace brat!"

The crown prince, obviously quite amused at the display of my temper decided to toy with his younger brother. "Are you going to let her talk to you like that," he asked, twiddling his index finger at me from over his brother's gilded shoulder.

The younger prince immediately drew himself up to his full height with a look of indignation playing about his features. He was merely putting on a show. "You will show the proper respect for a prince of Egypt," he said in an authoritative tone – no doubt one he had learned from Pharaoh. He shoved his finger in my face, and I was half-tempted to bite it off. Instead, I spit in his face.

"I am showing you all the respect you deserve," I said, my voice rising so that all the court could hear. "NONE!"

At this point, I let my anger overcome me and I snatched the rope from the hands of the priests and began to whirl it above my head like a whip. I came dangerously close to hitting the prince in the face. Guards rushed at me, but they would not come close for the prince stopped them in their tracks. Looking back later, I found this strange.

"No! Wait!" He called before he dove to the marble floor. He caught the end of my rope and held it tight as I pulled against it, furiously struggling. I realize now that I really had seemed something of a snake, snapping and wriggling about. The rope cut even more into my raw skin and knew I would regret this later, but there was no turning back. "Be still," he said.

"Untie this rope!" I brashly demanded. I had no intentions of being still.

"Be still," he commanded again, contorting with the rope like a worm as I slung it about my head. That's exactly what I thought of him – a worm.

"Set me free!" I shouted.

"Be _still_!"

"Let me go!"

There was a moment of hesitation as the roar of the crowd's laughter crescendoed at our relay. The prince looked up at me from the ground as his look of distress suddenly dissolved into a coy smile that played about his lips. I knew something bad was about to happen, but I was too clouded with frustration to see. "As you wish," was all he had said before letting go of the rope that sent me hurling backwards into a small pool of water. The rope flew over my head as I fell on my side into the shallow bottom of the pool. Water splashed up around my face and into my mouth as I flopped clumsily about. My ears were filled with uproarious laughter from all around me as I struggled to lean up and I was glad that I could not see the court in front of me. My eyes laid to rest like daggers on the man before me. My bound wrists prevented me from making much of a graceful effort to compose myself, and I knew my attempts to walk out with any sort of dignity was gone. My clothes were completely soaked as was my hair, which had fallen out of place and spilled into wild curls that stuck up all over my head. I looked a complete fool.

"You there," chimed the crowned prince over the cackling of the court, "Have her dried up and sent to Prince Moses' chambers."

Immediately, I was helped up by a rotund man servant who draped me in an old dry cloth and proceeded to pull me out of the water. I slipped on the scummy surface below me, which elicited yet more laughter at my expense, but I managed to pull myself back up with the help of the servant. He then led me to a group of guards who began to escort me towards an exit and I watched as leery faces snickered at me from behind their ridiculous painted exteriors. I was fuming. I was wet, cold, tired and hungry, my wrists were raw and sore, and I had been mortified beyond any measure I had ever experienced. In a single day, my dignity and pride had been taken from me all in a few short moments, and now I was to be prisoner to a man whose intentions for me were unlikely to be good ones. What was to become of me? I had nowhere to turn, no one I knew, and no way to escape… But that didn't keep my hatred from subsiding.

As I left, sour and humiliated, I turned just in time to hear the announcement of Prince Moses' appointment as Royal Chief Architect. I watched with intensity as a ring was placed on his finger and the court cheered. It astounded me that such foul treatment was to be showered with praise and privilege, but then I remembered that the Egyptians were too proud to see beyond the extent of their noses, so compassion must be a forgotten concept. That great pride, I thought, would one day be their ruin. The man servant continued to usher me through the door, but I paused one last time to see the smug look on the prince's face as he ogled his new trinket. I wanted him to feel the resent I clearly displayed, to know my anger…

But to my surprise, when he looked back at me, all I found there was his regret.


	2. Chapter 2

After I was dried and given new clothes to wear, I was polished up and sent to the prince's chambers as had been instructed. They gave me a gown similar in color to the one I had worn, and I tamed my hair once more, making sure no stray curls escaped their bindings. I was sent into the care of the large man servant from before who accompanied me everywhere I went and was told to keep me under watchful eye until Prince Moses had arrived from the banquet. As I entered his quarters, I was greeted by two large black jackals that at once pounced on me and began to lick the makeup off my face. Startled as I was, I managed to shake them off before the servant corralled them into a corner where they settled onto a rug to make sad faces for the rest of the evening. The room itself was large with high ceilings supported by grand alabaster pillars, open spaces where trappings and elaborate decorations were placed, and a balcony that overlooked the city beyond the palace. The walls were painted in the typical Egyptian style, but I didn't know what the writings meant. I supposed they chronicled the life of a pharaoh of the past, but I wasn't interested in their history.

Everything was elevated onto a platform that rose from the center of the room. At its heart was a lavish gold-framed bed, canopied by silk drapes billowing softly in the breeze. Animal furs adorned the marble floors, golden statues were placed in every corner, and thick curtains to keep out midday heat were hung from the ceilings. I counted the number of statues in the room. There were twelve. Lamps filled with oil added a soothing ambiance to what was otherwise my prison, and incense of jasmine sweetened the humid air. As I was swept inside, I could not help but feel attracted to the luxuriousness of it all. But I didn't intend to stay.

As the sun set beyond the horizon, casting a dim glow on the stucco houses of the Hebrew slave village beyond the palace, I loitered about examining things that might prove to be useful for my escape. Of course the man servant followed me around as though I might poison anything I touch, and I made a point to – touch everything, that is. I rummaged through trunks of expensive silks, exotic furs from neighboring lands, weaponry displays of spears and knives, boxes of priceless jewels, and accidentally spilt a bottle of scented oil faster than the aged servant could keep up with. He scolded me several times and warned me to "keep my filthy hands off the prince's things," but of course I didn't listen. I continued to pester him until the sun went down, although after he threatened to send in guards did I finally adhere to his chiding. Instead, I glided to the balcony to watch as the last few rays of light faded from shades of mauve to violet and finally to blackness.

As continued to observe my surroundings, I noticed that the two pillars near the open alcove were close enough to the balcony that I could tie something to it and climb down. There was a courtyard below that wasn't heavily guarded and a gate that was far enough away for me to make a mad-dash. If my timing was right, I could slip out at the next guard shift if I watched closely enough… But that meant that I had to get rid of my other company...

Or did I?

I needed a plan, and ironically, it came to me in the form of bondage. The man servant was hunched over on the steps leading down onto the entryway floor when I came back in from the balcony, and I could see the beads of sweat rolling down his pudgy face. I had worn him down with my constant pestering, and admittedly I felt a little sorry for him. He was rather old and his size placed a lot of restraint on him, after all. But I couldn't become soft if I were to escape the palace. I needed to be as quick as possible in order to make the break before the guards changed places for the evening, but I had to be careful so as to prevent the servant from being aware of my presence about the room. I crept as quietly as I could to pull a knife off of its display on one of the far walls and moved silently over to the bed and strung a blanket about my arm.

I had never taken someone hostage before, much less made them a prisoner of any sort, so my hands had become rather shaky and my palms wet with nervousness as I pointed the blade of the knife at the man's back and tied the blanket about his face to stifle any screams he might make.

"Move quietly and I won't kill you," I threatened with a mock deadly tone. The words felt strange coming from my own mouth, and I prayed I might never utter them again, but for the moment they were necessary.

There was little resistance from the man servant, which I was glad of, but the chattering that came from him as I tied his body to the proportions of my own with the bed sheets was unnerving. He kept begging me to spare his life.

"Stay quiet," I hissed, keeping an ear out for any signs of alarm. The old man was tremendously afraid, and I could tell because the bed sheets soon became soaked with his sweat. As I tied the final pieces of cloth around his mouth, I breathed an apology into his ear and dropped the knife. Tying him up had taken much longer than I thought and I ran in a panic to the balcony window to check the guards in the court yard. _There were none_. My heart skipped a beat and flashes of heat flooded my body. They had begun the switch!

Remembering the trunk full of silk, I ran to its location and emptied the entire contents as fast as I was able. I tied each long corner end together until I made a twisted rope. The bonds were tight enough that the fabric didn't slip. I wasn't sure if it would be lengthy enough for me to scale all the way down the balcony and into the court yard, but I had to try nevertheless. Time was running out. I tied an end to one of the posts near the open alcove and pulled the rest of the rope along. Then I threw it over the balcony's edge. The rope cascaded down until it came to a dangling halt just a few feet above the ground. I prayed desperately that no one had seen it fall. Checking again that my knots were secure, I tugged my weight against the heavy fabric and threw my leg over the edge. Once I was on the opposite side of the slab railing, I began my cautious descent to the ground.

To my horror, halfway down the rope, I heard the clanging of the rings on the doors to the Prince's room above me. My stomach reeled and I began to feel dizzy. My hands were so sweaty that I was beginning to lose grip of the rope, and my heart was racing. Then I could hear voices and footsteps overhead, which could only mean one thing.

I had to hurry.

Dashing discrepancy aside, I slid down the rope as fast as I was able and made a mad dash for the shadows. The guards had just returned from their post exchange and were standing a few feet in front of me by another set of pillars. They hadn't heard my feet hit the ground when I jumped, nor had they seen the rope which meant that they were still unaware of my lurking presence. But not for long if I wasn't quick. I made my way around them, hiding behind the pillars and avoiding being caught in the light of the torches that lit an otherwise dark courtyard. I took a moment to catch my breath and think on my next plan of action.

I still had a problem. I needed a way to get past the guards and the gate without them seeing me. At their current post, I would be in their line of sight. I would have to cause a distraction of some sort to lure them away from their stations long enough for me to slip past… I would also need food and supplies to carry me on my journey through the desert back to Midian. I sighed, trying not to let my fear of getting caught get the best of me. I had no idea what I was doing.

Then, like a divine blessing, I heard the groan of a camel and the tinkling of bells in the distance. I knew then what I had to do. I dashed to the far end of the courtyard, trying to avoid noise or making shadows against the light of the walls, and found three camels tied to stakes. They were feeding on a pile of straw and making a lot of noise in the process, but I noticed that only two of them were saddled. Stepping gingerly around dung and bits of straw, I checked their packs to find some stale bread, a few nuts, dried dates and wine, but very little water. The sour smell of feces made my stomach churn, and I resisted the urge to wretch in my nervousness, but as soon as my nausea subsided another wave hit.

I heard feet hit the ground in the near distance, and I knew what it meant. With shaky hands, I untied the reigns of the nearest beast and began to lead it away from its post. The bells on the saddle cloth jingled with every step the camel took, and I feared that it would give us away. We made our way as far as the gate, the camel groaning because I had torn it from its feeding, and I had to hush the beast to avoid being detected. Luckily the guards seemed distracted, although I could see one of them as I rounded the corner. But then my attention was immediately directed elsewhere.

There I saw the prince, making his way towards the guards, his eyes staring straight into mine.

I froze.

My blood had run cold, and all of a sudden I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. I didn't know what to do. Should I run? Should I stay? Panic overtook me and my mind became overrun by horrible thoughts. But the prince must have been just as surprised to see me as I was to see him, for he didn't say anything and he seemed frozen in place as well. He looked… awkward and… strangely apologetic. Or so I thought.

"Guards," he called from the shadows. The guards jumped to face him, shocked by his sudden appearance.

"P-Prince Moses!" They stuttered. There were several moments of awkward silence.

The prince looked straight at me, and I feared for the worst. Surely he would seize the guards upon me. I held my breath and said a silent prayer. Apparently it was answered.

"Uhhhh… There's a…," he muttered. "There's a man… Tied up... in my room!"

There was silence.

The guards stood there looking confused, and I began inching towards the gate.

"Well… Look into it!" Prince Moses demanded, scattering the men to his quarters.

I took the distraction as a sign to leave and tugged firmly at the camel's reigns. Without a moment's hesitation, we made a run for it through the open gate and never looked back, never slowed down. I knew that I had to keep going until I had reached the desert. I was certain no one would follow me there.

I stopped only briefly in the Hebrew slave village to get water from a well. A tall, gangly Hebrew man with a scraggly beard named Aaron and his sister Miriam, a short and slightly stocky woman with beautiful dark curls, attended me and my camel before giving us instructions as to safe passage out of Egypt. I thanked them as I took my last sip of water from an old wooden ladle.

"God bless you on your journey," said Miriam as I mounted the camel's back.

"Thank you," I replied, taking the reigns in my left hand and a reed switch in my right. "Hut, hut!" I called, and the camel rose from its haunches and took off.

And then we fled Egypt.

I vowed to myself that I would never go back, never relive the shame that I had endured there. My pride was still wounded from the demeaning court display, but I had regained my freedom, my dignity, and my virtue as a God-fearing woman. I was going home to my father, my sisters, and our flocks, to the people and way of life that I had known all my life. I would be at peace, hidden safely within the hills of Mount Horeb, and could sleep in our tent without worry… My problems were over. The nervousness that I had felt in the pit of my stomach was gone, and a heavy weight lifted from my chest. I had nothing to fear, and everything would go back to the way it was. But there was only one thing that continued to plague me – a thing which I could not let go… I would never be able to forget how a prince of Egypt saved my life.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon. Please read and review! :D<p> 


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